What I Did for Love
by Hulio
Summary: Late night with the Marauder three, sneaking into the house only to be met by a unsuspecting surprise. T for language


James Potter felt his feet come in contact with the ground and slowly the feeling or nausea and dizziness faded as the familiar park by his and Lily's house came into view. He smiled to himself, side-stepping a rather large mud puddle and leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest, mimicking an expression that made him seem like he had been waiting for a while.

In a matter of seconds there was a large gust of wind, and a rather loud, distinctive _pop_. Then as if out of no where, one of his best mates, Remus Lupin, appeared in front of him, landing to the left of the puddle. He beamed, not needing any time to adjust to the quick change in atmosphere, 'When did you get so good at aparation' questioned James as Remus followed his position up against the tree.

He rolled his eyes, 'Honestly Prongs, I've always been better at it then you and Padfoot'

Before James had time to respond however, there was another, more violent, gust of wind and suddenly, Sirius Black appeared before them, swing slightly on his feet taking a step towards the two others, walking right through the puddle, which surprisingly seemed to be about knee deep. Both Remus and James, chuckled to themselves, trying and failing to hid their laughter from Sirius, who glared a them angrily.

He growled in frustration, when suddenly hit by an idea. Sirius closed his mind and within seconds he was no longer a tall, handsome man but a large black, shaggy dog. Happily he rolled around in the puddle, then proceeded to jump on his two best mates, covering them in mud. Angrily, James followed suite, changing from a man into a brown stag, pinning his mate down with his antlers. Remus rolled his eyes and made his way out of the park, towards the road.

Soon the only sound that could be heard was Remus' quiet footsteps against the concrete of the paved road, which was quickly met by the small patter of a dog and a stag walking along beside him. 'This can't look normal' he stated, and instantly the animals were back into their original form.

'It's not my fault' retorted Sirius, 'Prongs has never looked normal, it's a real mystery how he landed Evan's in the end.. tell me Prongs, what charms did you end up using?'

James bumped his shoulder in retaliation, after which both boys shrugged, turning their eyes back to the open road in front of them. 'We could always disaparate by side-along' stated Remus, gazing up at the half moon. Both James and Sirius looked at him, each slightly confused, by the obscure statement. 'To avoid Padfoot falling in another mud puddle' he added, smirking slightly.

'Definitely not' retorted Sirius, 'Unless you wanted me to side-aparate both of you'

James snorted in disagreement, 'I think Moony suggested that to prevent you from injuring yourself mate, not so one of us can have the opportunity of getting splinched.

'I beg to differ' started Sirius,

James chuckled as they turned the street corner making their way, onto the street his and Lily's home was 'Padfoot, it's going to be hard to win that argument seeing as the whole worlds against you on that one'

Sirius shrugged in reply, 'Doesn't matter what the world thinks, as long as my mates have got my back, we can do anything.'

'But Padfoot' interrupted Remus, crossing his arms over his chest, 'We don't have your back on this one, especially seeing as just yesterday you aparated to the three broomsticks without your eyebrows.'

'At least I'm not afraid of my own _wife_' he muttered in reply, quickly diverting the conversation.

James stopped walking to glare at his best mate, Remus stopping a view paces after, both watching as Sirius continued to walk, whistling quietly to himself. 'I am not scared of my Lily, why would I have married her if I was?' Even with his back turned, James could tell Sirius was rolling his eyes.

'Like you told me at the begining of sixth year, right after you told us you were _in love_' he started, flalling his arms dramatically at the word love.

'Love can be a scary thing' James growled under his breath, remembering the moment as if it were yesterday, instantly wishing that he could go back in time and take those words back. 'Bloody hell.. Did I really say that?'

Both Remus and Sirius nodded, each man continuing to walk down the road. 'How did you put up with me?'

'We just made sure to take you out for Quidditch at least once a day and you were fine' added Remus, chucking lightly to himself. 'And speaking of , when are you going to tell her what you're really doing on nights like these Prongs?'

He groaned a small smile growing on his face, 'I love hearing people call her that' he answered, however with a light jab in the shoulder from Sirius he continued, 'I don't know...' he added, contemplating it 'I guess, if I'm lucky I won't have too... besides it's not like we're doing anything _that_ dangerous'

Remus and Sirius shared a glance then proceeded to snicker between themselves 'Prongs, mate, we're going out late at night to follow death-eaters without the orders knowledge' countered Sirius through spits of laughter.

'_that _dangerous' James repeated, fishing in his pockets for his wand and his invisibility cloak, passing the latter of to Sirius.

'Again' started Remus, 'Following death eaters'

'Would it kill you to whisper?' hissed James 'We're standing on the bloody porch, what if she hears you or you wake her up? Plus it's not like we're going to get caught, we are the Marauders minus one after all'

'If we're not going to get caught, then tell me why exactly we have to sneak into your house under your invisibility cloak...?" asked Sirius as they stood outside the door. 'It wouldn't have anything to due with the fact that you're scared of how Lily will react if she catches us' he inquired.

"Like I said before" he replied throwing the cloak over top of them "I am _not_ scared of Lily"

"The cloak doesn't even fully cover us anymore" stated Sirius as he glanced down at their exposed feet "I don't see the point in wearing it"

James sighed then turned to his best friend as he pulled out his wand "Fine, if you have such a problem with it" he stated reaching out and pulling the cloak off the three men "We can just walk in normally"

"It is your house after all Prongs..." added Remus, to with James angrily rolled his eyes, glaring at his mates before tapping the lock with his wand allowing them to pass the security wards to enter the house.

The three men walked across the threshold, being certain to be very quiet to not wake Lily, they closed the door behind them tapping the lock once more to reactivate the security. As they made their way towards the kitchen, the hands on the clock that held the faces of all three men moved from travelling to home.

The same clock had been given as a thank you for joining the order to all other order members, it had held only two hands each one supporting a portrait of Lily and James up until three months ago when Remus, James and Sirius had been on a mission only to return back to James' to find that their portraits had also been added to it. Neither men had questioned it, however every time they entered the house they all wore identical grins, they would never admit it, but with the family issues both Remus and Sirius had they were equally as happy that someone was worrying about them on a regular bases.

They passed the living room looking in to see dozens of pictures smiling and waving back at them and entered the kitchen. The clock chimed 3am and James mentally slapped himself realizing that if Lily ever caught them returning at this hour, she would definitely not believe them when they told her they had been at the three broomsticks.

'We should really try and make it back earlier next time' stated James, running a nervous hand through his hair. Both Remus and Sirius nodded in agreement, 'There is definitely no excuse for coming home at 3 a.m'

Sirius shrugged 'Luckily then, we didn't get caught' he added proudly. 'Another sneak in success,'

James nodded in agreement 'Now as promised, celebratory firewhiskey' he finished putting up his wand preparing to summon it. Although unsuspectingly, he was quickly disarmed, his wand flying across the room into the dark of the kitchen. The other two, reacting instinctively, drew their wands, only for the process to be repeated. The stood horrified in the middle of the room, although quickly relaxed when there was familiarly laughter omitting from the darkness. James flicked the switch on the wall, filling the room with light, and all three men turned around baring relieved expressions, which quickly faded, upon spotting Lily seated at the kitchen table, their wands spread out in front of her, a mug in her hands.

* * *

><p><em>A few days earlier...<em>

Defeated, James' head fell to the table in his Sirius' small flat's kitchen, that was barely big enough for the four Marauder's to all sit in together. 'Are you sure?' he heard Peter mumble, to which he could only imagine Remus nod. Half expectantly, he felt the table shake as Sirius' fist came in contact with it, James lifted his head ever-so-slightly to see his mate stand from the table, angrily knocking over his chair in the process.

'Pads' started James, getting up to meet his mate as he furiously pounded his fists against the wall. 'Just calm down mate, it'll be alright'

For a brief moment it looked as if Sirius was going to retake his seat at the table, however James didn't expect his words to do any good. 'No Prongs!' he hollered in return, causing James to take a cautious step backwards. 'I will not calm down'

'Why don't you just take a seat, Padfoot' added Remus, also getting to his feet placing a reassuring hand on his friends shoulder, 'I can make tea. Do any of you want tea?'

'Honestly Moony' growled Sirius, 'This isn't the time for tea! It's the time for action!'

James heard Remus curse under his breath, taking his hand off of Sirius' shoulder, he returned to his chair, sending James a look that clearly said, _Good luck. _'Come on Pads,' he started, 'You heard the Dumbledore, we have to stand down, to regroup'

'Since when are you one to follow the rules!' he shouted in retort, '_Stop fighting_, Dumbledore tells us, _they're getting us individually now, Jacobs was found dead in his home.. We need to all lay low for a while, get new recruits..'_echoed Sirius from the order meeting earlier that afternoon. 'Stop fighting? For how long? That's not going to stop them, we stop and we all be dead in the next week'

'Padfoot,' started James, leaning against the counter top, 'I know this is hard on you, it's hard on all of us but maybe Dumbledore's got a point, we're weaker now then we've ever been, if we stand down for a while and collect ourselves, to get stronger, we'll be able to win this thing..."

'You don't understand' he whispered, taking his gaze off of the floor and looking at his mate, 'I lived with these terrible people for years, I know how they work. They're not going to stop just because we've gone into hiding, they will hunt us down and kill us when we least expect it.'

'But Pads' interrupted Remus, however Sirius glared at him, causing his to loose his train of thought.

'What if it's Lily next Prongs, not some guy that we barely even knew.. but Lily..'

'That's absolutely ridiculous, every order members house is protected by multiple charm, cast by Albus himself!' intervened Remus, trying his best to keep James convinced that standing down was the right idea.

Sirius rolled his eyes, placing his hands on the table and leaning towards Remus, 'But those enchantments don't follow us wherever we go, now do they?' questioned Sirius, to which Remus simply shook his head, 'Just imagine, it's a normal day, Lily runs out to the store to get.. Bloody hell I don't know.. Milk. Then two hours later, just as you're about to go out looking for her, you get a message from Dumbledore saying-'

'Shut up!' warned James, Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus, his back still towards James, knowing now that he had convinced him. Remus heaved a great sigh as Sirius turned to face his best mate.

'Prongs' interrupted Remus, 'You can't honestly believe this, they don't even know where you and Lily live..'

'Don't they?' argued Sirius, 'You heard Dumbledore, standing down, regrouping.. Doesn't sound like something he would say, you know why.. He's nervous, the old man's keeping something from us..'

Remus rolled his eyes, while James seemed to be contemplating the matter. All while Peter remained dead silent, farthest from the three other Marauder's as possible. 'Please,' started Remus, 'Enlighten us.. what's this big secret?'

'I'm surprised you haven't figured it out for yourself yet Moony' he responded, 'But since you asked so nicely.. There's a spy' Remus' eyes widened in horror as both he and James shook their heads, 'Just think about it.. how else would they have known Jacobs house, or our every move over these past few weeks.. One of us could be next, Lily could be next' he added turning back to James. 'All because we chose to stand down'

'Like hell' he mumbled, drawing his wand from his pocket and heading for the door, Sirius smirking then following him.

Remus quickly stood from his chair, 'Now hold on!' he cried, 'This is ridiculous, Pete, back me up on this'

'Yeah' Peter agreed, his voice much higher than usual, 'Ridiculous'

'Get back in here' hissed Remus, causing both men to turn around and retake their seats.

'I can't just sit around and watch my friends die anymore, we need to do something' argued Sirius, smashing his fists against the table once more.

James nodded 'I couldn't agree more'

'So, let's get out there and fight' he replied, waving his wand in the air, causing various sparks to fly from it.

'Hold on, wait!' interrupted Remus 'We can just go out there and attack people, that would make us no different from the death eaters'

Both men stopped in their place and turned to face him, now having their attention he continued 'We need a plan,' they both agreed and all four of them sat down at the table, putting their heads together. Suddenly they all felt as if they were back at Hogwarts, seated in the far corner of the Gryffindor common room, huddled round a table, planning their latest prank, however this time it was much bigger than that.

* * *

><p>'Now,' started Lily, getting to her feet, pushing right past the men, making her way towards the sink in which she placed her mug. 'Are you going to tell me where you've three been, or am I going to have to force it out of you?' she asked calmly, not even glancing in their direction. All three men remained silent as if signalling that they weren't going to utter a word. Lily sighed, walking back over towards the men, twirling her wand in her hand. 'You know, I've got a lot of dirt on you three, things you haven't even told each other'<p>

Sirius laughed nervously, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three, 'Flower..' he started, running a hand through his hair, a habit in which he had picked up from James, 'we tell each other everything, you've got nothing...'

Lily raised her eyebrows in amusement, a smirk growing on her face, 'Sirius you remember sixth year?' she questioned, taking her seat once more, to which he nodded in agreement.

'Fairly well..' he added, 'One of my better years'

'Good' she continued, 'Then surely you remember the night of the Christmas party, that you four had so kindly thrown in the Gryffindor common room' Suddenly his eyes widened in horror, the memory coming rushing back to him, 'Well I was feeling rather.. upset..'

'You know what' he interrupted, 'I actually don't remember this story at all.. maybe it wasn't me..'

'You don't remember?' she asked lightly, 'Well that might have had to do with the large amount of firewhiskey you had drank that night'

Both James and Remus raised an eyebrow in his direction upon sharing knowing glances, 'Lily' he begged, seating himself across from her and taking her hand, 'Please, don't tell the story.. If you want me to live.. you won't tell it' She sighed and nodded, causing Sirius' head to fall gratefully to the table below.

'And if you two think I don't have any dirt on you' she added, 'Take Black here as an example.. Now get your firewhiskey, you promised them some didn't you James?'

He beamed "Right you are sweetie" grabbing four cups from the cupboard and the bottle of whiskey, setting them down on the table then taking the seat next to Lily as Remus sat down next to Sirius. The bottle was passed around the table as each man filled their glass; the glass that James had set down in front of Lily remained empty. This however did not go unnoticed by Remus, who would've questioned it if Lily hadn't shot him another threatening glance.

'You won't get mad?' questioned James, after emptying his glass.

'No promises' Lily stated, twirling the empty cup around her finger. James sighed, running a nervous hand through his hair, looking to his mates for help, however receiving none.

'We've been going after death eater's' he mumbled under his breath. 'The order doesn't know'

The glass she had been balancing fell to the table, causing all three men to jump. She stared at all three of them disbelief, refusing to believe what he had just informed her of. 'Sweet Merlin...' she mumbled under her breath, rubbing her eyes, 'How could you?' she added, in a heart breaking tone, not daring to meet the eyes of any of the men in front of her.

'Lily, I'm sorry' said James, placing a hand on her shoulder.

'We're sorry' corrected Remus, to which the other two nodded, however she made no movement, and all four of them sat in silence.

'Please, Lils, say something' pleaded James, 'Yell, scream, hit me if you must, you can even hit Sirius'

She redirected her gaze from the table to the three men, glaring at them before pushing back her chair and standing. 'You're sorry... sorry!' she mumbled, 'What if something were to happen to you... either of you' hollered, finding her voice. 'What if you died! Where were that leave me? My family is dead! You're all I have left and you're gambling your life like this! Why in the world would you do this?'

'Sirius put up a really convincing argument' stated James, causing Lily to turn his gaze from him to the other.

'Flower' started Sirius, putting up his hands defensively, 'We couldn't just sit around and watch friends and family die anymore'

'You must!' she cried 'You just have to; if something were to happen you wouldn't have help or backup'

'But nothing's going to happen' stated James 'Nothing has happened'

She could feel tears in her eyes 'I can't lose you James, especially not now...' she managed to say as the tears now cascaded down her cheeks. James had pulled Lily into his arms only that she quickly removed herself from them, stepping away with her back towards the three men. Remus who had remained silent throughout this whole conversation, pulled Sirius and James closer so they formed a group huddle.

'What the bloody hell is going on?' whispered Sirius, 'Yesterday Flower wouldn't have gotten mad, she might have even asked to join us'

'What's changed between now and then..?' demanded James,

Remus, having figured it out the moment Lily refused firewhiskey rolled his eyes at the two men, 'Seriously...' he questioned, then turned to face Lily once more. 'You two really need to be more observant'

'Lily' he said, pulling her into his arms, 'I think you should just tell them' he whispered, to which she just shook her head against his chest.

'Not now' he heard her respond, 'Not here.. It's not the right time..'

'If you tell him he'll stop' Remus assured her, 'I promise you that'

'Sorry to interrupt' spoke Sirius 'But what the hell is going on..?'

Lily pulled away from Remus walking over towards James, 'Wait a minute' he said, who appeared to be deep in thought, after another few seconds passed a goofy grin grew on his face and he stared at Lily. He then proceeded to sweep her off her feet, spinning her round and round in the middle of their kitchen. 'This is wonderful' he murmured against her lips, then quickly and a little unexpectedly put her down, Lily looked at him with a questioning glance, cocking her head a little that made her ever so irresistible, in James' opinion.

'I probably shouldn't do that for a while, I don't want you to get hurt...' he stated kissing her forehead lightly.

Lily rolled her eyes 'James I'm not suffering from disease' He picked her up once more, laughing cheerfully. Kissing her more passionately,

'I promise, no more stake outs' he said pulling away from her. 'I love you too much'

She beamed "I love you too"As James proceeded to dance around the kitchen with Lily laughing at him antics, a confused Sirius turned to Remus,

'What's happening Moony?' he demanded, watching the scene in front of him with an extremely confused expression, plastered across his face. Remus chuckled and shook his head

'Let's just say that there will soon be a little-Prongs running around soon' he responded, quickly pulling Lily into a congratulatory hug and then doing the same to James. _We won't be thinking about another stake out for an extremely long time_, Remus thought to himself, smiling as the couple continued to dance around the kitchen in euphoria.


End file.
